Syria 'moving sarin, cyanide out of storage'

U.S. alarmed Assad is preparing to use stockpiles of chemical weapons

(Israel National News) Syria has begun moving parts of its vast arsenal of chemical weapons out of storage facilities, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.

The country has vast undeclared stockpiles of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide, according to the report. American officials have different opinions regarding the logic behind the decision to move the chemical weapons out of storage.

"Some U.S. officials fear Damascus intends to use the weapons against the rebels or civilians, potentially as part of a targeted ethnic cleansing campaign," writes the Journal. Others said strongman Bashar Assad "may be trying to safeguard the material from his opponents or to complicate Western powers' efforts to track the weapons."